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Callitris columellaris

Common name:	White Cypress-Pine	Family:	Cupressaceae
Author:	F.Muell.	Botanical references:	1, 200
Synonyms:	Callitris glauca (R.Br. ex Mirb.), Callitris arenosa (Dunn.)
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Australia - New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria.
Habitat:	Light soils, occasionally near the coast, but usually in dry inland areas up to the montane zone[152].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	0	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	C. columellaris auct. non[P] C. glaucophylla[B,G,P] C. hugelii[B] C. hugelii auct. non[P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	White Cypress-pine [B], White Cypresspine [P],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	columellaris = column shaped
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Pinales. Cypress family

Physical Characteristics

An evergreen tree growing to 20m. It is hardy to zone 10. It is in leaf all year. The flowers are monoecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but both sexes can be found on the same plant). We rate it 0/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils and can grow in very alkaline and saline soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires dry or moist soil and can tolerate drought.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Secondary, Dappled Shade.

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

Fuel Resin Tannin Wood.

A resin obtained from the stumps of felled trees or the cut logs is used as a coating for pills[152].
The bark contains 11 - 23% dry weight of tannin[1, 156].
Wood - resinous, very aromatic, very durable, brittle, very flammable, hard, close grained. Used for construction. furniture making, cabinet making, fencing, ship building etc[1, 152, 167].

Cultivation details

Prefers a dry sandy coastal soil in full sun, succeeding in saline soils[200]. A very drought tolerant plant once established[81, 200].
This species can tolerate temperatures down to at least -7° c in Australian gardens[157] but this cannot be translated directly to British gardens due to our cooler summers and longer, colder and wetter winters. Some reports say that plants can succeed outdoors in the very mildest areas of this country[1, 81] but another report places this species in hardiness zone 10, which would mean that it is not frost tolerant and could only be grown with winter protection[200].
The plants are highly inflammable and are usually killed by forest fires. However, they store their seeds in unopened cones on the tree for many years, these seeds are released after a fire and then germinate freely[200].

Propagation

Seed - does not require stratification, germinating at any time of the year if it becomes moist[200]. Sow in early spring in a greenhouse. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter, planting them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for Callitris glaucophylla (a possible synonym).

[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.

References for the family Cupressaceae.

[CHINA] Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[81] Rushforth. K. Conifers. Christopher Helm 1987 ISBN 0-7470-2801-X
Deals with conifers that can be grown outdoors in Britain. Good notes on cultivation and a few bits about plant uses.

[152] Lassak. E. V. and McCarthy. T. Australian Medicinal Plants.
A very good and readable guide to the subject.

[156] Cribb. A. B. and J. W. Useful Wild Plants in Australia. William Collins Pty Ltd. Sidney 1981 ISBN 0-00-216441-8
A very readable book.

[157] Wrigley. J. W. and Fagg. M. Australian Native Plants. Collins. (Australia) 1988 ISBN 0-7322-0021-0
A lovely book, written in order to encourage Australian gardeners to grow their native plants. A little bit of information for the plant project.

[167] Holliday. I. and Hill. R. A Field Guide to Australian Trees. Frederick Muller Ltd. 1974 ISBN 0-85179-627-3
A well illustrated and very readable book, but it does not contain much information for the plant project.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
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